According to Wikipedia, about 50 million Americans work from home at least part of the time, and that number is growing all the time. Workshifting is catching on in a big way! It's great to know that more and more people are realizing the benefits of telecommunting. However, even with more people signing on to the workshifting lifestyle every day, there are still lots of folks who don't quite get the appeal or the advantages of working from anywhere but the office. Despite the good news, many bosses, clients and colleagues still have real concerns about working with people who are only virtually "there". Workshifting is still quite misunderstood. Here are some common myths and misconceptions about telework and how you can help the naysayers to see things differently.

If I Can't See You, You're Not Working

Cats have this thing where, if they are hiding under a blanket and they can't see you, they think you can't see them. Of course, we know this isn't true. We know that, just because the cat is out of sight, it doesn't mean they aren't there. I had a boss like this once. He required me to check in with him when I got into the office every day. I had to let him know when I left the office for lunch and when I came back. I had to let him know when I left for the day. Basically, if he couldn't see me, he didn't believe I was actually working. He had no trust that his employees were doing any work at all unless he saw us sitting at our desks.

There are many employers that still think allowing staff to do work from a remote location will open the door to missed deadlines, slacking off and general lack of productivity. The truth is, many people are actually MORE productive when they are able to leave the distractions of an office environment behind.

The best way to convince the un-trusting boss that you will work just as hard, if not harder, when working remotely is to ask for a trial. Get permission to spend a half day, or even a full day per week away from the office. Set goals for that day away and share them with your boss. Then, don't just achieve those goals, exceed them. Do that consistently for a few weeks and then let your boss argue that working remotely isn't productive.

You're Not a Real Company If You Don't Have an Office

For the first two years of our company, we rented a nice office downtown. It was a great location, and we were able to tell people to just "come by the office". But it was super expensive, parking was a mess for our staff, and then a year of construction ensued on the street outside that literally drove us out of the location. We left our office behind and never looked back.

After we gave up our office, there was a short period of time where I thought we should probably get another office, because it would make us more "legit" as a company. But I soon realized that not only could we run a great company in a virtual office, but that it actually worked out better for us. Having our team working in their own environments allows them to work when they work best - for some of our team, that's from midnight till 7am. For others, it's 10am to 4pm. Nobody has to worry about showing up to the office every day, and they are free to create in the way that works best for them - the only rule we have is that they need to meet their deadlines (which they have no trouble doing, because they are always working at their best!).

Our clients don't mind one bit that we don't have an office per se. We actually prefer to go out and visit our clients on their home turf, because it gives us a much better sense of their culture and environment. When we're regularly visiting our clients' offices, we become a familiar face - part of the team. That's just not possible if clients are always coming to see us.

Nobody is forcing you to have an office. We function very well as a virtual office, and when we need to set up shop, be it meeting space or a temporary office for a specific project, then we always have our friends at the Code Factory co-working space to help out.

I long for the day when the misconceptions of workshifting are a thing of the past; when we can all work where we want to, when we want to. The result will be a greener, more productive, and more healthy workforce, and that can only mean good things for both employers and clients.

Photo Credit: YaelBeeri